Supporting apparatus



the brackets.

Patented Jan. 9,1945

UNITEU Q'FJEYICJEJJ SUPPORTING APBARATUSII Mrleq'Amidon- Eliietbth, Francis T. Lind, North Plainfie'ld;randsrOSbar P. Lindbergqzfllizaheth,

N. tJ., .'assign ors::to estern "Electric lflompanyrvg 'lncorporated -Newz,Nork, N.3Y-,' a1 .corpql'ationtz-==.

- of. N emYork ApplicatiOn'D'e'cemberIZ,1942, Serial No. 468,852

Claimsae It *is" an"'object of the pres'entfinvention to provide a simple and. inexpensive apparatus for' s pporting ,articles during-the processin iand handling the'reofi.

In accordance with'ione embodiment of'the inventio'ny'a truck is provided forsupp'orting'a plu rality .of trays "during eth'e'processinfg :of "articles onithe trays'whe'rein'the truck "body 'lias1vertical--"' 1y:;;'extendin'g posts mountedon it, upon which" tray t receiving brackets "are'jpivota'llyf mounted whereby "'traysizma'yji beilreadily placed on' the" brackets.andtthe'bracketsimay then be swung to position overzthe body."of:the truck. The brackets have" supportsup'omthem which, When the brackets are moved to an intermediate position,

' may be utilized for supporting enlongated articles and the brackets have associated with them support members for bracing them when they are in A better understanding of the invention may be had by reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a truck for supporting articles during spray coating, drying and transportation thereof constituting the pre-. ferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan View taken substantially along the line 33 of Fig. 1 in the y direction of the arrows and showing an elongated Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view through a portion of the bracket taken substantially along the line 5--5 of Fig. 4 in the direction of the arrows and showing a tray supported in the brackets.

In the drawing, there is shown a truck II) comprising a body portion or base I I fitted with suitable casters or wheels l2 and I3. The base II (oirzri-aiiia-rhas extending"upwardlyfrom it and suitably se l4 and "I5 arema'de' of relatively heavy pipe and are'threaded =at 'theiriupperends to receive 1 el- 5 ."bows" I 6 and 'I 1, respectively, into which horizontally -extendin'g pipe 'members-JB and I 9 are threaded;respectivelyu The inner ends of the horizontally extending pipe members I 8 and I9- are' threadedinto a pipe T 2U,"2in-which there 10 *isalsothreaded-a central upright member 2 I the.

lower endof which'is suitably attached to the about=the posts and which are prevented from slipping down on='the' postsbymeans of collars 23 *fixed 1 'to' "the posts by -means of I set screws fli Thus;*the=sleeves=22 wi1lbeheldfin spacedre I lation along the posts I4. and I5 and may be freely rotated'with respect to the posts. Each of-the sleeves 22 has welded to it, as shown at 25 (Fig. 4), a. U-shaped channeimember 26 constituting a bracket for receiving trays 21 shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. 4. The U-shaped channel member 26 is fixed to the sleeve 22 at the'midpoint of its base and the leg portions of the U are adapted to receive angle members 28 which comprise the framework of the trays 21.

In accordance. with the preferred embodiment of the invention, the posts I4 and. I5 and the horizontally disposed members I8 and I9 are relatively heavy pipes as pointed out hereinbefore as is the upright member 2| and, when rigidly held' in the position shown in Fig. 1, will support the U-shaped channel members 26 comprising the tray supporting brackets whenthe brackets are swung to either the position shown at 29 or 30 in Fig. 2. When the channel meinbers 26 are swung into position shown at 29, trays 21 may be loaded in them and articles supported on the trays may be coated and after the articles are coated, the tray and the channel member 26 -may be swung to the position shown at 30 (Fig. 2) for transportation to a drying oven or other destination.

The central upright member H has mounted on it a plurality of U-shaped members 3|, which are fixed to sleeves 32 freely rotatabl about the post 2i and held in position on the post by collars'33. This construction is quite similar to the construction provided on the outer or end posts and the members 3| may be swung to the position shown in Fig. 2 'tov constitute a support for the inner 'ends of the trays 21 during the transpor- 55 tation of the trays.

cured-toita pair dfpbsts-M and: I5. The posts:

Each of the U-shaped channel members 26 has suitably fixed to its upper surface a bar 35, which is rectangular in cross section, as shown in Fig. 5, and which may be fixed on the channel member 26 by welding it at 35. This bar, which is provided with a knife edge at its upper surface when it is positioned on the channel member 25, may be utilized to support elongated members 31, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the channel members 26 being swung to an intermediate position to provide a four-point support for the elongated member 31 during the coating and transportation thereof.

The legs of the U-shaped members 26 have a plurality of apertures 4! formed in them as shown in Figs. 1, 4 and 5 for receiving rods 42 on which parts may be suspended during the coating and transportation thereof.

Thus, the truck made in accordance withthe present invention is capable for use for handling various sizes and shapes of parts to be processed, the trays 21 being provided with a suitable mesh screen lit for holding parts of irregular shapes, the bars 35 being provided for holding elongated articles and the rods 42 being provided for supporting parts which it is desired to suspend in some manner during the processing thereof.

What is claimed is:

lqA supporting apparatus comprising upright posts, and tray receiving frames pivotally mounted on said upright posts, said tray receiving frames comprising channel elements of U-shaped configuration to receive trays between the flanges thereof and said channel elements being provided with knife edged bars on the upper flange there of for supporting elongated articles.

2. A supporting apparatus comprising a base member, upright posts mounted on said base member, tray receiving members pivotally mounted on said upright posts and movable to r and from position above said base member, a

trays when the members are in position above the base member.

3. In a. supporting apparatus, a wheeled base, end posts mounted on the ends of said base, a central upright mounted on the base in alignment with the end posts, tray receiving members on said end posts, tray supporting members on said centrally positioned upright, and means for supporting said members for rotation on their respective upright and posts.

4. In a supporting apparatus, a wheeled base, upright posts mounted on the ends of said base, a central upright mounted on the base in alignment with the upright posts, tray receiving members on said upright posts, tray supporting members on said centrally positioned upright, means for supporting said members for rotation on their respective posts and upright, and means extending between the posts and upright at their upper ends for uniting them in a rigid frame.

5. In a supporting apparatus, a base member, upright posts extending from said base member, a plurality of sleeves rotatably mounted in spaced relation on said upright posts, a U-shaped member individual to each sleeve and having the base thereof fixed to the sleeve, a series of rod receiving bearing surfaces in the legs of each U-shaped member, and rods insertable in the rod receiving bearing surfaces for supporting articles.

MERLE AMIDON. FRANCIS T. LIND. OSCAR P. LINDBERG. 

